Cannon Mills and Kannapolis: Persistent Paternalism in a Textile Town

1. James William Cannon: Early Influences and the Emergence of a New South Industrialist

Chapter 1 James William Cannon: Early Influences and the Emergence of a New South Industrialist James William Cannon, a business leader who represented the spirit of the New South, brought industrial progress to Piedmont North Carolina. Along with other such leaders, Cannon worked to rebuild the South after the Civil War. These leaders believed in a diversified economy but felt the South had distinct advantages in the textile industry. By building mills near cotton fields, for example, the South could save on transportation costs and undercut northern prices. In addition, the South had a cheaper labor force that was not significantly unionized.1 Enthusiasm for the textile industry culminated in the tidal wave known as the Cotton Mill Campaign, during which large numbers of textile mills were built.2 Cannon exemplified the typical southern textile industrialist, looking forward to the future but strongly influenced by the past. Although industrialization was changing the nature of work and human relations in the workplace, Cannon and other southern industrialists continued to have a strong belief in the role of a genteel upper class. This New South upper class included merchant/industrials who continued the traditions of paternalism and deference. Wilbur Cash argued that the paternalism of the Old South plantation system was evident in the mill towns of the New South: Just as the plantation owners supplied their slaves with necessities, so too did the mill owners provided for their operatives. Deference and fear, he noted, were key elements of paternalism in both periods. Nevertheless, attractive as this comparison is, it must not be taken too far. Cotton mill operatives, unlike 4 @ James William Cannon slaves, could always demonstrate their displeasure with their employer by leaving. Unfortunately, if they did so they usually found themselves working in another cotton mill under a similar paternalistic relationship.3 New South industrialists also held a strong belief in individualism and the sanctity of contracts. These beliefs led to a strong anti-union bias. Workers, they thought, should present their grievances to mill superintendents and owners personally, without the odious specter of collective bargaining or the influence of outside agitators—northerners. Yet New South industrialists still lived under the burden of noblesse oblige. While they reaped profits, they also became benefactors to numerous social, religious, and educational organizations and provided tangible improvement to their communities. A tenuous balance existed between their desire for profits and their social obligation to improve the community. Enlightened self-interest often settled this conflict. Industrialists financed groups or projects that helped the community and simultaneously provided personal or business benefits in the short or long term. Mill village paternalism demonstrated the tension between profits and community interest. The emergence of the mill village was an economic necessity which helped poor whites to transition from ailing farms to industrial work. It was designed to take advantage of the family labor system that already existed on farms and provide jobs for whites who had lost their farms or were doing poorly in an era of depressed cotton prices. Industrialists thus helped the community by economically uplifting poor whites, increasing their income, and providing better housing and educational opportunities for their children, all while reaping a profit. In operation, therefore, the mill village represented both enlightened economic self-interest and community improvement.4 In addition, many new mill owners of the Postwar period, Cannon included , had backgrounds as merchants. Historian David Goldfield noted that “industrialists usually possessed the same values as merchants (frequently they were former merchants), especially if they were engaged in some aspect of staple crop processing.”5 The merchant/industrialist was often the “small town rich man” as characterized by journalist Ralph McGill of the Atlanta Constitution. McGill noted that the “small town rich man” was a merchant, usually a bank director, and often a “pillar” of his church. In addition, he was influential in politics.6 Cannon epitomized this New South industrialist. James William Cannon was born on April 25, 1852, to Eliza Long Cannon and Joseph F. Cannon. He was the fourth of six children. Although his family was from Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cannon was James William Cannon ^ 5 born in Mecklenburg County, off Derita Road near Sugaw (Sugar) Creek Presbyterian Church. James’s education at the Session House at Sugar Creek ended when, at thirteen or fourteen years of age, he left home to clerk at a store in Charlotte.7 In 1869 Cannon went to...